Category: Film history
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Far, Far Away: Another Look at Star Wars
In February 2027 a 50 year old science fiction movie will be re-released in cinemas. This means there is the same amount of time between today and 1977 as between 1977 and the era of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al…
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Off Course? Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey
I’m not a huge Christopher Nolan fan. His films have got increasingly louder and longer over the years, they usually feature a tortured male protagonist played rather woodenly by a famous actor, female characters are incidental to the action, whole…
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It Was About Time: 30 Years of Doctor Who – The Movie
Thirty years ago on the evening of 27th May 1996, a Bank Holiday Monday, I was sitting in the Putney studio flat of two old university friends watching TV. We’d all moved to London the previous year after a failed…
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Goldfinger and Trump: The Kiss of Death for Mr Bond?
I don’t envy Steven Knight. The talented writer behind “Peaky Blinders” has been tasked by Amazon/MGM to reboot the James Bond franchise with a fresh take for the 2020s and introduce a new incarnation of 007. Reportedly his first draft…
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The Twelve Discs of Christmas: A Personal Selection of Festive Film Fun
What makes a good Christmas movie? Well, apparently NOT “Die Hard”. Although some polls have dubbed it one of the best action films of all time, despite being set at Yuletide, it doesn’t count. So what does? And why? OK,…
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Restless Hearts: Chasing the Running Men
Edgar Wright’s “The Running Man” rushes into cinemas on the heels of not one, but two movies carrying the same title. In 1987 an earlier version of the orginal 1982 novel the movie was based upon had been released starring…
